What’s a better way to begin the 2024 school year than by introducing some new faces at Venice High School? This year, the school welcomes ten new educators who are excited to bring new perspectives and enthusiasm to the classrooms. Let us introduce you to five of our new teachers this year. 

English teacher Chelsea Diaz 

Diaz, an Inland Empire native, felt a sense of familiarity at Venice High, especially since it reminded her of the high school she attended. 

“I love how community based it is, and that’s the first thing that really stood out to me,” she said. 

At Venice High, she’s excited about the variety of different clubs and The Learning Garden. She also notes she wants to start a Folklorico club towards the end of the year. It’s something she’s taught in the past, and she’s looking to recruit students once she gets into a routine for her classroom. 

Diaz says her main goal for this year is to build a community within her classroom and for all of her students to feel comfortable with each other. 

Biology teacher Angel Crowe 

Crowe taught at Nobel Charter Middle School in the Valley for the last ten years. She’s happy that she’s now here. “I love it—I’m so glad that I came here,” she said.

Crowe comes from generations of teachers. Her father was a teacher, her mother was a teacher, her grandparents were teachers—aunts and uncles, cousins, and even second cousins were all teachers. 

When thinking about careers, she tried not to be a teacher. “This is what I was born to do and I love it,” she said. 

Outside of school Crowe owns a dog she calls “a sweetheart.” It’s a mix of breeds, including Husky, German Shepherd and more. She also loves traveling around the world and loves horse riding. 

In her 25 years of teaching, her favorite moment was during a lesson she was teaching about camouflage. The topic of black panthers came up and how they hunt at night since they are nocturnal. Then a student raised their hand and said, “Aren’t panthers pink?”

Teaching can consume your life if you let it, Crowe says. Yet, she has deep admiration for her career, aims to create an inviting classroom, and have deep connections with her students. 

Social Studies teacher Bryant Odega

Odega, who teaches AP African American Studies and Ethnic Studies, values the diversity he’s seeing in the classroom at Venice.

Before coming to Venice, Odega taught in Boston. He says that the biggest difference between Venice High students and his students in Boston is the different types of cultural backgrounds. In Boston he saw many different students from African and Caribbean descent, which has its own food, language, slang, and music. 

Odega says he’s always learning a lot from his students. “I think it’s like a dialectical exchange of knowledge sharing,” he says.  

He also is “really excited about being able to get connected with the community over here in Venice.” 

Chemistry teacher Stacie Dahl

Dahl is happy to feel welcomed by students and staff at Venice so far. She’s been in education for the last 12 years, in roles ranging from being a teacher, a tutor, and a swimming teacher. 

A difference she noticed between Venice high school and her previous schools she has taught at was the number of teachers and students at this campus. Dahl said she’s noted that there’s more English learners here. In addition, traveling from one classroom to another to teach made it “difficult to build up collaboration and do teamwork” at her other school. 

Outside of her teaching career, Dahl has a passion for science, research and mentoring students into university research opportunities. She also enjoys spending time at the ocean and seeing her family.  

Dahl is still adjusting to new routines at Venice.  A new goal Dahl wants to reach as a teacher is to make sure her students are enjoying the class with no stress and take them on field trips based on climate change and the ocean environment. 

Social science teacher Ashti Ramkishun 

Ramkishun is Venice’s newest honors Geography, AP Human Geography, and honors U.S. History teacher. 

Originally from the Inland Empire, she describes herself as a kind and funny person who loves spending time with her friends, going to the gym, and cooking.

Working here at Venice High school, Ramkishun felt very welcomed and supported. “Venice does a really good job of combining the community with the school, so that it feels like we’re a big family and every student is super supportive here,” she says.

Many things inspired Ramkishun to become an educator. 

“I think that there are a lot of things wrong with the education system, and teachers don’t always teach students things that are relevant or that they’re interested in, and it’s my goal to make every single subject super interesting so that students feel like, ‘Oh, this is important; I’m glad I learned this,’” she said. 

Ramkishun cares a lot about students’ well-being. “Venice is in a really unique position, because I think they’re a lot more developed than other schools,” she says. “In order to fix our education system, we have to really take into consideration student needs, and I think very often student needs aren’t heard because there’s a lot of bureaucracy and big adults telling students what they need versus students telling teachers and schools what they want.” 

List of other new teachers:

• • Ryan Andrews
  • Brycelyn Fukuji
  • Sana Ahmed
  • John Witkowski
  • Rosa Garcia